Note:

It is not expected that students have prior knowledge of the language.

Content

This unit is designed to provide a practical and basic introduction to modern standard Arabic for students who have no acquaintance with the language so that they have the confidence to communicate effectively at the threshold levels, involving listening and speaking in the first instance, followed by the ability to read and write. The language teaching is extensive, based on audio-visual methods, in order to give students a sound training in both spoken and written Arabic. An overview of the Arabic language, its historical changes and development, the place of Arabic in the Semitic languages group and in Islam and the notion of 'diglossia' are explained as general background.